The Parselmouth- Second Heir of Slytherin
by darkpothead
Summary: When Harry goes to the zoo with the Dursley's, he doesn't just help a snake escape its prison, he finds a new ally and friend. A slightly smarter/more independent/darker Harry who might just find an ally in the Dark Lord, if Voldemort can redeem himself. The main cast will be pretty grey, not evil or good, because they do what they need to in order to survive and live happier lives
1. The Zoo

_**The Parselmouth- Next Heir of Slytherin**_

* * *

Normal Speech

_Thoughts_

_/Parseltongue/_

* * *

Chapter 1: The Zoo

* * *

Harry Potter couldn't believe his luck. It was his cousin, Dudley's, birthday today, and his usual sitter, Mrs. Figg, was unable to care for him because she broke her leg. He felt a bit sorry for her, but honestly didn't care all that much if it meant he didn't have to stay at that place. It wasn't nearly as bad as the Dursley's, of course, but he knew they would either take him with them on Dudley's birthday trip, meaning they wouldn't mistreat him like they would at home because there were people around, or they would leave him at their house alone, which meant he'd get a break away from them. They decided to take him with them, since they didn't trust him alone with their things. Harry didn't mind. The Dursley's would hardly want to be seen with him anyway. He spent most of the time they were wandering around following behind them, only close enough to where he wasn't going to be left behind.

Harry was enjoying the exhibits, and was on his best behavior the whole time. He enjoyed learning, regardless of what his grades said (his aunt and uncle always hit him if he did better than Dudley in class, so he learned very quickly to dumb down his test scores), and he found the information provided by the zoo fascinating. The only thing he didn't like about the zoo was, well, the fact that it was a zoo. It was animals locked away in cages in some sort of mockery of their natural habitat. If it had been something more akin to a wildlife preserve, he would have no problems with the zoo. But this was just a show for idiots like his cousin to enjoy. Harry sympathized with the animals- after all, most of the time he was locked up in a cage of his own. He wished there was something he could do for the animals, but, being just a ten-year-old boy, there wasn't. He sighed as they entered the last exhibit of the zoo.

The reptile exhibit. This was one of the rooms he was most excited to see. He may have hated the cages, but he loved reptiles, especially snakes. Something about them just… called out to him. As his cousin made his way over to a massive boa constrictor, Harry made his way to the opposite side of the exhibit. He looked at a few different snakes and read their descriptions, then saw one that caught his eye. It was a bright emerald green snake, who had scales that appeared to be hundreds of tiny feathers all over her body. She had a unique appearance, but what stood out to Harry the most was that her scales appeared to be the same color as his eyes, only there were hints of black along the edges. Her eyes were speckled black and green as well. He glanced at her plaque next to the glass on her cage.

_Female Atheris Hispida_

"_The Spiny Bush Viper"_

_Located: Lutunguru, Kivu, Africa_

_49 cm long_

_b. 1989 in captivity_

Beneath that was a short description of the snake, what their venom is like, how long they live, how they reproduce, etc., but at this point Harry returned his attention back to the viper in front of him. He noticed that she was reared up, and seemed to be focused on him.

"You are gorgeous," Harry whispered. "I wish I could take you home with me. Not that it'd be any better than this place, but, hey, at least we'd have each other." He chuckled bitterly at himself, and rested his head against the glass, staring at the snake.

_/Yessss, sssspeaker… Take me with you…/ _Harry heard a soft, feminine, hissing voice say to him, He jumped back, started. He glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then he stepped forward again and whispered softer.

"You,,, you can understand me? And I can understand you… What's going on?"

_/Yessss, I can underssstand you. You are a sssspeaker. Lisssten closssely when you sssspeak. I have heard of onessss like you before, but I have never sssseen one myssself. But, if you have the power to sssspeak with me, then you have the power to help me essscape. And I will be forever indebted to you, young massster./_

Harry was in shock, but was also excited. What were these powers he had, and how would they help this snake escape? Would they allow him to escape? He whispered to the snake again, but this time, he focused on what he was saying, but realized that he was actually hissing.

_/What sssshould I do to help you essscape?/_

_/Ussse your magic. I can feel it flowing through you, it'ssss what allowssss ussss to sssspeak together. Placcce your hand on the glassss, and will it to disssappear. Focussss… Then when it issss done, I will sssslide under your sssshirt, and you jussst have to will the glassss back. Ssssoundssss ssssimple, right?/_ the viper chuckled a bit at her joke. Harry gulped a bit, nervous about doing this "magic" for the first time. If what the snake said was true, and right now she seemed like the most trustworthy person he ever met (not that that was saying much), then it was the reason he was speaking to her right now. He thought for a few moments, then decided that he should try concentrating on the glass, and try speaking like a snake at the same time. He could tell the glass to disappear. At the very least, he knew that speaking like a snake was magical, so it was worth a shot, right?

Harry placed his palm on the glass, scrunched up his face, and concentrated. _/Disssappear…/ _he whispered. _/Disssappear, glassss…/_ It took him only a few seconds before he felt… _something_ flow through him, from his chest to his palm, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that a small circle of glass around where his hand was placed had disappeared. He glanced around as he felt his new friend slither into his shirt sleeve and wrap around his upper arm. For once, he was glad his clothes were too big for him, as they hid the viper from view. _/Thankssss,/_ he heard her whisper in his ear. Harry closed his eyes again and focused on bringing the glass back, whispering _/Come back, yessss, return, glassss…/ _and, while it took a bit longer than pushing the glass away, it eventually reappeared, and it looked as flawless as it had before. Harry was practically brimming with excitement at the possibilities of what this could lead up to. He glanced around once more to see if anyone had noticed him, then he carried on, looking at some of the other reptiles on display.

The Dursleys stayed for another half hour or so, then decided to go home. Luckily, Harry had managed to stay out of trouble, so he would probably get to eat tonight. He wondered how he would feed his new friend, but then figured that, being a snake, she could probably hunt for herself. Granted that she had never been in the wild before, but her instincts would probably make up for that.

On their way out of the exhibit, Harry overheard a security guard talking to a man who appeared to be the manager about a missing snake. They were trying not to start a panic, seeing as how the viper was poisonous, and it took all of Harry's self-control not to giggle at the two running around like chickens with their heads chopped off, looking for his new friend.

* * *

Later that night, Harry was once again locked in his small cupboard under the stairs. His good behavior got him a small meal of bread, cheese, and water. He ate it quickly then went to his cupboard so he could speak to his new friend.

_/Sssso,/ _Harry said to the snake, who was wrapped around his arm and hand. _/I never did get your name. What issss it?/_

_/I've never had one./_

_/Oh? I didn't know mine for yearssss before I heard it. I wassss alwayssss "freak" or "boy" to thessse people. What would you like your name to be?/_

_/Hmm… I'm not ssssure. I've never really thought about it much. Why don't you choossse for me? You'll give me a good name, Massster, I know you will./_

Harry thought for a few moments. _/How about… Elisssabeth?/_

_/That ssssoundssss perfect, Massster./_

_/Good, I'm glad you like it. And pleassse, call me Harry. We can be partnerssss, you don't need to call me massster./_

_/Okay. Thankssss… Harry./_

Harry smiled down at Elisabeth as she curled up on his chest. He had to be up early the next morning to start making breakfast, so he was lying down, close to falling asleep. He figured he would be able to talk to her some more tomorrow while he worked on his chores.

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Harry and Elisabeth grew closer. As it was summertime, Harry didn't have school, but now he had almost twice the amount of chores to do. Luckily, most of them were outside and away from the Dursleys, so he could talk with Elisabeth for hours every day. They bonded over the fact that they both were locked away for their whole lives, and that one day they would escape. Harry had to stop Elisabeth from attacking his relatives whenever they were near him, especially when they hit him, or called him names like "freak" or "worthless boy." He knew one of these days he wasn't going to be able to restrain her, but for now she was content that he was happier with her around, and she did as he wished and didn't attack, since it would probably mean more trouble for him in the long run right now.

Elisabeth shared what she knew about magic and talking to snakes, which honestly wasn't much, since she was brought up in a zoo. But, apparently some wizards were born with the ability to speak "Parseltongue," the snake's language. Those who could speak it were called "Parselmouths," or "Speakers." Apparently it wasn't very often that snakes found Parselmouths to talk to, as even amongst wizards it was not a common gift. However, Elisabeth was taught about them from her mother when she was younger, as Parselmouths could either be a great ally, or someone who uses and controls snakes for his or her own ends, without any regard to the snake. Elisabeth said that she trusted Harry, and that he had won her loyalty when he rescued her from the zoo. Harry was happy enough just to have a friend who at least somewhat understood what he was going through.

Elisabeth didn't know much about magic, but she did tell him that some Parselmouths could focus their magic through speaking Parseltongue, creating "Parselmagic," like what Harry did when he freed her. She didn't know anymore than that, but Harry decided he would try more Parselmagic whenever he had the chance. One day while trimming the Dursley's hedges, he made sure no one was looking, then he picked up a leaf off the ground, focused on that same feeling he had when he was freeing Elisabeth, and said _/Burn./ _It took him a few tries to get that same sense of power, but he was finally able to sense that same power flow from his chest, through his arm, and out his hand, causing the leaf to burst into bright green flames. The flames didn't hurt him, it was _his_ magic creating them, after all. After a few seconds of burning, the leaf crumbled into ashes and the fire went out. He giggled, and Elisabeth hissed approvingly. _/Well done, Harry. You're a natural at thissss./_ Harry thanked her and he practiced on a few more leaves and twigs throughout the day. After a couple weeks, Harry was able to do a few basic spells, or at least that's what he thought he was doing. He was able to _/burn, freeze,/ _and even _/lift/_ things via Parselmagic, though the last one took him significantly longer for him to master. He also found that he had an easier time tapping into the source of his powers, what he was now calling his "magical core," something he read about in a fantasy novel a while back, when Elisabeth was around, as opposed to when she was out hunting for food. He thought this could be because he was worried about her when she was gone, or because it was easier for him to focus on speaking Parseltongue rather than English when she was around. He wasn't sure why it happened, but there was no real way for him to find out, and Elisabeth had no idea either. So he just let it be for now.

Harry was having no luck so far when it came to teleporting, something he thought of then was eager to try, in the back garden one morning, out of view of his nosy aunt. He was called in to clean himself up and make the Dursley's lunch, when that fateful letter arrived.

* * *

A/N: So, about my previous story, _The Deal,_ which hasn't been updated in a while. I made a longer post about it here:  topic/167441/126277251/1/#126277251 and I linked it in an A/N in the story. If you want to add any input or advice on what you'd like to see in that story, post it there or in the reviews of _TD_ and I'll consider putting it in if I feel like it suits the story. But, basically, since the beginning of January I've been taking an EMT course, which I finished (and passed) earlier this month. It took up basically all of my time, so I didn't have time to update it. I'll get back to writing it soon enough, but I think I'm going to start it over again. I feel like the flow of the story wasn't smooth enough and wasn't heading in the direction I wanted it to go it. I may have Harry go back in time further, I'm not sure yet, but the basic events will remain much the same. I just want to give a bit more development, make Harry and Lucy a bit darker (and give Harry a reason to be dark), and, like I mentioned before, I'd like to improve the flow of this story. Thanks to all the support people have given me on that story, I hope that the rewrite will be even better than the current version.

A/N 2: Some story spoilers ahead. I was inspired to write this story purely because I saw a picture of a bush viper, thought it was awesome, and thought about how cool it'd be to have one as a pet and to be able to speak Parseltongue with it. So I just sort of started writing this one after doing a bit of research on bush vipers, and some more ideas came to mind, and now this story is going to be about the Peverell brothers being descendants of Slytherin, Harry being the Second Heir of Slytherin (after Voldemort), and Harry teaming up with Voldemort after Voldy redeems himself (I don't want to give too much away, so I'm going to keep this a bit vague). There are some other plot points in there that I've thought of, but I don't really have an end purpose to this story. So there may be a point in which I stop updating simply because I don't really have an idea of where to go from where I'm at. Any criticism and ideas for the story are welcome. If you've read this far, thank you, and I hope you're enjoying the story.


	2. Letter From Hogwarts

_**The Parselmouth- Next Heir of Slytherin**_

* * *

Normal Speech

_Thoughts_

_/Parseltongue/_

* * *

Chapter 2: Letter From Hogwarts

* * *

Quick A/N: This is a pretty short chapter, but since it's already finished and I just posted the first chapter, I figured that could be forgiven. Hope you all enjoy!

* * *

Harry had just finished serving his relatives lunch, when the sound of mail sliding through the mail slot was heard. His uncle ordered him to get it, and with a "Yes, sir," he hurried into the hall and to the front door. He picked up the mail and glanced through it as he walked down the hall back to the dining room.

_Magazine, bills, a letter from Aunt Marginally-Fatter-than-Vernon-Somehow- wait, what's this? _Harry thought to himself. He had stumbled upon a letter addressed to… him?

_To: Mr. H. Potter_

_The Cupboard Under the Stairs_

_No. 4, Privet Drive_

_Little Whinging, Surrey_

Harry gaped for a moment, before running back down the hall and shoving the letter into his cupboard. There was no way he was going to open it around the Dursley's, that had "Bad Idea" written all over it. What really caught his attention, though, was that the letter included his cupboard in the address. As far as he knew, letters didn't usually include where the person it was addressed to slept. More importantly, if the people who sent the letter knew where he slept, wouldn't that mean that they knew what kind of hell he was living through here? Whoever these people were, they might not care that he was treated that poorly, or maybe this letter was a way to help him? He'd have to wait to read it until after the Dursleys were asleep.

"About time, _worthless boy!"_ Uncle Vernon shouted at Harry. He grabbed the letters then shoved him back towards the kitchen door. Harry stumbled the fell flat on the floor. "Go back out there and finish your chores, or you'll get no dinner tonight." As Harry climbed back up to his feet and walked back outside, he heard his uncle muttering about Harry being an "ungrateful, time-wasting brat." Luckily, Elisabeth was there to hiss soothing words in his ear as he got back to work.

* * *

After all of his chores were done, his relatives were asleep, and Harry was back in his cupboard, he created a small ball of flame to illuminate his "room." He was anxious to see what his letter had to say. Elisabeth was draped across his shoulders when he finally tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter inside.

_**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**_

_**Headmaster: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore**_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class; Grand Sorcerer; Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot; Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards)_

_Dear Mr. Potter_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all books and supplies you will need for the upcoming term._

_Term begins on the First of September. We await your owl no later than the Thirty-First of July._

_Your's Sincerely,_

_**Minerva McGonagall**_

_**Deputy Headmistress**_

_/Well, that'ssss quite a lot of interesssting titlessss. I wonder if they've honessstly been watching me and ssssimply don't give a damn that I've been abusssed, or if they jussst ussse magic to add on the location to the letter and have no idea. Regardlessss, thissss place can't be much worssse than living with the Dursssley's, and it ssssoundssss assss if I'll be able to learn more about my magic,/ _he spoke out loud to himself and Elisabeth. At this point it was really more natural for him to speak in Parseltongue than it was for him to speak in English. He reread the contact information again. _/They await my owl? Issss that how they deliver their letters? I guessss it might be ssssimilar to messsenger pigeonssss… I don't have an owl, though. I wonder if they have one sssstanding by to pick up my responssse?/ _Deciding to test this theory out, Harry quietly snuck outside his cupboard and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, and quickly wrote out his reply.

_Dear Ms. McGonagall_

_I accept your offer to go to Hogwarts, however I will need some help getting my supplies and getting to the school. I was raised by my aunt and uncle, who are nonmagical, and I don't believe that they would help me. I also do not have an owl, so I can only hope that the school has one outside my house waiting for me to send my reply. I hope this gets to you on time, as I would love to learn about magic._

_Sincerely,_

_Harry Potter_

Harry then found an envelope, sealed the letter inside, addressed it to "_Ms. McGonagall, Hogwarts,"_ then he crept outside the house, being careful so the door didn't creak or slam on his way out. He took a few steps out onto the driveway, held up his letter, then whispered "I- I have my reply for Hogwarts," sheepishly. He was amazed when a brown owl swooped down from the streetlamp above him, grabbed the letter from him, then flew off. Harry gaped and stared for a few minutes, before sneaking back into the house and into his cupboard. He was so excited at the prospect of properly learning magic that he had trouble getting to sleep. He finally did, and he dreamt of snakes, owls, fire, and children in witch and wizard costumes for Halloween.


	3. The Giant

**_The Parselmouth- Next Heir of Slytherin_**

* * *

Normal Speech

_Thoughts_

_/Parseltongue/_

* * *

Chapter 3: The Giant

* * *

Quick A/N: Hey, sorry that this took a while to do. I've been writing this chapter on and off since the last two were posted. It's not really a major event in the story, so I wasn't too sure how I wanted to go about it, but it was something that was necessary to write about. Thanks for all the reviews, guys, and please enjoy!

* * *

It was the morning after Harry had sent Hogwarts back his reply, and he was serving his relatives breakfast when a rather loud knocking came from down the hall. Vernon wobbled to his feet, pointed at Harry, said "You, boy, cupboard, now," and hobbled to the front door, muttering to himself about who could have shown up out of the blue at such an early hour.

Harry listened from his cupboard (it wasn't hard, seeing as how it was located in the entrance hall), and he heard his uncle open the door, and a rather deep and scruffy voice came from outside.

"Well, 'ello there," said the stranger. "You mus' be Mr. Dursley. 'Isa pleasure ta' meet ye."

There was a few moments of silence, then Vernon replied, "What in the _ruddy devil_ are you?"

"'Scuse me?" The stranger sounded taken aback, but quickly recovered. "Ah, I sup'ose I 'aven't properly introduced meself. The name's Rubeus Hagrid, 'n' I'm the Keeper o' Keys and Grounds at 'Ogwarts."

At this, Harry could hear Vernon slam and lock the door, then he ran (well, ran as much as such a fat man could, anyway) into the kitchen, practically wailing. "Petunia, Petunia they're here! Pack your bags, grab the keys! We need to leave _now! They're here!_" Harry giggled to himself, imagining what the old pig must have looked like, but then he realized something. _They're here._ His uncle clearly recognized what Hogwarts was, and the "they" he could be referring to was clearing wizards and witches. That must mean that they knew about him, or at least about magic in general. And his uncle seemed… scared. Was that why they mistreated him? Were they afraid of his magic? Did they know he was a wizard? And if they knew, then how? Did his parents know, and were they a witch and wizard as well? Harry thought back on his life, and he realized that his aunt and uncle seemed to become upset, unnerved even, at the thought or sight of anything unusual happening. There was the incident in the car on the way to the zoo where Harry mentioned his dream about a flying motorcycle and he was yelled at because motorcycles can't fly. As he dove deeper into his past, he realized that strange and abnormal things seemed to happen around him often, and it would always freak his relatives out whenever it happened. There were those times when his aunt would cut his hair, only for it to fully regrow overnight, the time his aunt tried to make him wear an awfully ugly sweater, and the sweater shrunk until it wouldn't fit over his head, the time he somehow landed on the school roof when diving behind the dumpsters while escaping Dudley and his gang. There was even a time when his teacher's hair had suddenly turned blue during class- something that had no connection to Harry, but when Dudley mentioned it to his parents, Harry still got a beating for it. Harry thought that maybe these were the early signs that he was a wizard, and that he was using magic. It would explain why his aunt and uncle would always freak out, though, ironically, most of the time he's used magic accidentally have all been in self-defense, which wouldn't have happened if he had just been treated fairly in the first place.

A loud _BANG!_ brought his attention back to the giant outside the house. He noted a squeal- a rather piglike squeal at that, he noted- coming from the kitchen, probably from Vernon. With another couple of _BANGS!_ Harry heard the door break off the frame and crash to the ground.

"Dursley!" the stranger bellowed, followed by a _thunk. Did that man just put the door back or something?_ wondered Harry. He cracked open his door and glanced out. The first thing he saw was a man, a huge man, a giant, even, standing ni the hall with a pink umbrella in hand. He was easily ten feet tall, with a massive beard, wild black hair, and beady, black eyes. As the giant strode forward, Harry noticed that he had-indeed- shoved the door back in place. It wasn't quite back in its hinges, but rather seemed to be squished into the frame. Harry opened his door a little more so he could hear what was going on.

"I'm only 'ere for the boy, Dursley, then I'll be outta yer 'air. The quicker I find 'im the quicker I'm outta 'ere." The giant man said.

"He will not be going!" shouted Vernon, seemingly mustering up some courage. "We promised to stomp all this rubbish out of him when we took him in!"_ So,_ Harry thought. _They** did** know…_

"He's 'ad 'is name down for 'Ogwarts since the day 'e was born! 'E'll be goin' ta the finest school o' wizardry under the best headmaster the school 'as ever known! Albus Dumbledore!"

"I'M NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!"

The kitchen was suddenly quiet, and when the giant next spoke, Harry could hear the anger and darkness in his words.

"Never. Insult. Albus. Dumbledore. In. Front. Of. Me." There was a sound like lightning crackling, and then there was a squeal- a _real_ pig squeal, this time- and Harry decided it was finally time to come out from behind cover.

As he walked into the kitchen, Harry couldn't help but laugh at the scene before him. The giant, Hagrid, was standing on one end of the room, holding his tattered pink umbrella threateningly towards the Dursleys. The Dursleys were on the other end of the room. Dudley was sitting in the corner, looking comatose. Vernon- or what used to be Vernon- was a large man with piglike features (a snout, pinker skin, a tail, and hooves), but still fairly close to what Vernon actually looked like, who was squealing at the top of his lungs, looking like he was trying to yell at the giant man. Petunia was going back and forth between trying to comfort her husband and being so repulsed she looked like she was going to throw up.

"Jus' tell me where 'Arry is an' I'll be on me way. Or you lot can stay where ye are an' I'll go look fer 'im around yer 'ouse."

"I- I'm right here, sir," said Harry, cautiously. He felt Elisabeth stir beneath his shirt, ready to strike if necessary. Although this stranger seemed to be his ticket to Hogwarts and out of this house, Harry didn't trust him. He didn't even know this man, all he knew was that he was able and willing to attack if provoked.

The giant turned his attention towards Harry, then lowered his umbrella and brightened up immediately. "Well, I 'aven't seen ye since ye were jus' a baby, 'Arry, but look at 'ow much ye've grown!" The stranger positively beamed at Harry from beneath his beard.

"You- you knew me when I was a baby?" asked Harry, still not completely trusting this man.

"Well, ye, I did. Granted that I didn't see ye all that often with yer parents, considerin' the circumstances, but I saw ye a few times, then I was, erm, well I was the one who dropped ye off 'ere from yer 'ouse when ye was only a babe."

"Oh," Harry replied, stunned. "I- I didn't know that. Why was I taken from my house as a baby?" He was confused, but seeing as how the Dursleys never gave him any information on his parents or his life before living with them, that wasn't surprising.

"What do ye mean, 'why?' I mean, erm, it was, ye know, when yer parents died. After Dumbledore 'eard the news and it was decided where ye'd be livin' after it 'appened, he sent me off ta fetch ye an' bring ye 'ere."

"Why was I in my house, though? My aunt and uncle said I was in the car when it crashed. That's where my scar came from."

"Car? Crash? What in the blazes are ye talkin' 'bout, 'Arry?"

"The car crash? That- that killed my parents…" Harry trailed off. Even though he never really knew his parents, it was still hard for him to talk so casually about their deaths. Maybe it would have been easier to accept had he been raised in a loving home, but being raised by the Dursleys, just knowing that he had parents at one point in his life, who most likely loved him and treated him with kindness, it was difficult for him to think about them dying and being taken away from him.

"A car crash?! A car crash kill Lily and James Potter? It's an outrage! It's a scandal! Dursley! Ye got some 'splainin' ta do!"

"I don't think he'll be doing much explaining in the condition he's in, sir."

Hagrid chuckled. "Nah, I sup'ose yer right. I should change him back before we leave."

"Where are we going, sir? And, if my parents didn't die in a car crash, then… how did they die?"

The giant's face turned solemn, and he scratched his chin through his huge beard. "I'm not sure I'm the right person ta tell ye that, 'Arry. I didn't know that ye, well, that ye didn't know. I figured they woulda been keepin' yer letters from ye, but when ye answered the school's owl an' ye seemed ta know ye were a wizard already, I figured they told ye everythin'. I never dreamed they wouldn't a told ye about yer parents, though… 'Ow about this, after we get ye yer school supplies- tha's where we're goin', by the way- we'll sit down an' 'ave a chat about yer parents. I'll tell ye all that I know about 'em, which isn't too much, I'm afraid. But, I imagine it'll be better than nothin', ye know?"

"Okay, thank you, sir."

"Now, now, no need ta call me 'sir,' 'Arry. Jus' call me 'Agrid, everyone else does."

"Thanks, Hagrid."

At this point, Petunia had been paying enough attention to the conversation and decided that interjecting was a better decision than comforting her pig of a husband. "You… you got your letter from that- that _school?_ And you sent a letter back?"

"Yes. When I got the mail yesterday, I found the letter and hid it in my cupboard, then I read it last night. It said that they 'expected my owl,' which I thought might be like a messenger pigeon, and, since I don't have an owl, I wrote a letter and went outside to see if they school had left one near the house to take my reply back to them. Luckily, they did, and here we are."

"You- you- you- you ungrateful little brat!" Petunia shouted. "We bring you into our home, feed you, clothe you, after my stupid _freak_ of a sister got herself blown up, and you have the nerve to go through our mail and invite _those people_ into our home? We would have been better off if you had just died with them instead of showing up on our doorstep." She strode over to him, arm outstretched as if she was going to grab him by his hair and drag him into his cupboard. Hagrid went to step between them, but after years of abuse and neglect her last comments were enough to bring Harry past his boiling point.

A wave of energy, something like a force field, flew out of Harry's chest and sent Petunia flying back into the wall with a _BANG!_ She slumped down, unconscious, revealing a hole in the wall with a trail of blood leading down to her body.

When Vernon saw this, he squealed in terror and tried to get to his wife's side, but he wasn't used to his hooves, and it resulted in him stumbling and sliding all over the floor. Dudley looked pale and frightened, and, judging by the yellow puddle beneath him, he was.

Hagrid sighed, then sent a bolt of red light from his umbrella towards both Dudley and Vernon, knocking them unconscious. "I'm sorry things got so outta 'and, 'Arry. I didn't know things were this bad fer ye. I knew they didn't like magic, but I never knew ye were bein' so mistreated…" He shook his head as he examined Petunia's head. After a few more waves of his umbrella, the blood was gone, the wall was repaired, and Petunia didn't appear to have any injuries. "I'll see what Dumbledore an' I can do fer ye as far as gettin' ye outta this place. But, on the plus side, ye'll be outta here fer most of the year now, so hopefully ye can just spend the summer with a friend so ye don't have ta come back, even if they're still yer guardians."

Harry didn't say a word. He was still shocked by what he had done. He hadn't tried to do anything, it was just a natural reaction, as far as he could tell. He just felt his powers flow through him and protect him.

"What did I do, Hagrid..?" Harry asked shakily.

"Hm?" Hagrid replied as he was transforming Vernon back into a human. "Oh, tha's what we call 'accidental magic.' It's when a witch or a wizard are too young to have full control over their magic, so their body jus' sorta reacts. It usually happens when yer in danger or highly stressed. It looks like ye made a '_Protego_' charm. Tha's basically like a shield of magic." Harry nodded slowly, trying to take it all in. "Welp," Hagrid continued," I think it'd be best if they fergot all of this, don't ye?" When Harry gave him a quizzical look, Hagrid explained, "I'm gunna remove the memory of what happened since I showed up. I'll leave 'em a letter tellin' 'em I've taken ye ta school and that they shouldn't expect ta see ye until next summer at the earliest. That way they're not quite as riled up at ye if ye ever do hafta come back."

"Wow… You can do that?"

Hagrid chuckled. "Sure can. It's amazin' what magic can do, righ'?" Harry agreed, and with three flashes of light, and a quick cleansing charm around Dudley, Hagrid wrote the Dursleys a quick note and left with Harry.

* * *

A/N: The next couple chapters will probably be Harry and Hagrid going to Diagon Alley, then Harry going on the Hogwarts Express and possibly going through to the sorting. They should start getting longer and more interesting, but so far I've been getting positive reviews, so at least some people like it already. Also, I haven't forgotten about Elisabeth. She's still gunna be a major character, but when Harry's around others I can't include her all that much dialogue-wise. We'll be getting a bit more from her in the upcoming chapters than what was seen in this chapter.


	4. Diagon Alley (Part I- Gringotts)

_**The Parselmouth- Next Heir of Slytherin**_

* * *

Normal Speech

_Thoughts_

_/Parseltongue/_

* * *

Chapter 4: Diagon Alley (Part I- Gringotts)

* * *

Quick A/N: This chapter is about as long as all the others combined. I was hoping to get Diagon Alley done in one chapter, but it looks like it'll have to be split up into two. The main reason this took so long was because, honestly, I found a lot of it boring. It involves a lot of dialogue and explanations that I felt were necessary, but it's not something I really want to write about. The main ideas I have for this story start on the Hogwarts Express, so that'll probably be when I start really getting into the story and I'll write a lot faster. But, anyway, here's a nice, long chapter for everyone. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

As Harry and Hagrid walked out of Number 4, Privet Drive, the first thing Harry noticed was a large motorcycle on the side of the road in front of the house. It was large enough for Hagrid to ride on comfortably, and the sidecar attached seemed spacious enough for Harry and one or two trunks of stuff, not that he had anything from the Dursley's to bring. Hagrid opened the side car door for Harry, then went on the other side of the bike and got himself settled in, setting his umbrella next to Harry in the side car.

"Alrigh' now, 'Arry. There's a 'elmet underneath yer seat, so go a'ead an' put that on," Hagrid instructed as he put on his own helmet. Harry found the helmet and strapped it on as Hagrid continued. "Erm, I'd appreciate it if ye didn't mention any of what 'appened in there ta anyone else. Strictly speakin', I'm not sup'osed ter use magic, at leas' outside o' 'Ogwarts, anyway."

"I won't, Hagrid. Do you mind if I ask why?"

"Er, well, ye see, I was expelled when I was younger." At the confused look on Harry's face, Hagrid continued. "When I was goin' ta 'Ogwarts meself, in me third year, I 'ad a large pet spider. One o' the other students found out, the Ministry said it was a danger ta the students and it was an illegal animal cuz ye need a license fer it, and I got expelled from school an' 'ad me wand snapped in two. Dumbledore was kind enough to take care o' me after that- didn't 'ave anywhere else ta go, since me dad died before then. So he was kind enough to let me live on the grounds and 'elp out the old groundskeeper. I've been livin' there ever since, and started workin' when the old keeper retired."

Hagrid seemed to be a bit nervous about admitting this, though Harry thought that there was something more than nerves, that Hagrid was keeping something from him. Still, Hagrid had decided to trust Harry with this information, so he decided not to push for more answers.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Hagrid. But that was kind of Dumbledore to do for you."

"Ye, it was. He's a great man, Dumbledore. Ye'll like 'im, I know ye will." Hagrid was visibly more relaxed when he saw Harry decided not to push it with his questions, then he gave Harry a large smile and asked, "Ye ready ta go?" Harry nodded and Hagrid started up his motorcycle and rode off.

"'Arry," Hagrid shouted over the roar of the engine and the wind blowing against them. "It'll be a bit o' a trip cuz we're goin' up ter London. Ye mind if I speed us up a bit with some more magic? Again, I'd 'preciate it if ye didn't tell anyone." Harry nodded enthusiastically, eager to see what else magic had to offer.

Hagrid smiled down at him. "Alrigh', hang on a mo'." He pulled into a nearby alleyway, out of sight of everyone, then grabbed his umbrella and tapped it once on his bike and once on the sidecar. Suddenly, the bike was invisible, and so was Hagrid. Harry looked down and saw that he, too, was not to be seen. "So the Muggles can't see us," explained Hagrid. When Harry asked what "Muggles" were, Hagrid explained that they were "non-magic folks."

"Hang on tight, 'Arry," Harry heard Hagrid say. He pulled back out of the alleyway, then started down the road at blazing speed. He zoomed past a few cars, and when they were going faster than Harry had ever gone in his life, faster than a rollercoaster, they started lifting off of the ground. Harry clutched onto the sides of the sidecar and looked all around him. They were steadily climbing, getting higher and higher, until they peaked and the cars underneath them were about the size of mice.

* * *

Flying was one of the most exhilarating experiences of Harry's life. He couldn't help but laugh when they landed a mere ten minutes later. He had never flown in his life, let alone at such high speeds. After Hagrid landed and reappeared behind some cover, they parked and walked up to a shabby little pub called _The Leaky Cauldron._

"Er, before we go in there, Harry, I should warn ye, yer kinda famous in our world."

"F-famous? For what?"

"Well, it's about _that_ night, The night ye got that scar. That'll be how mos' people recognize ye. I'll explain more when we 'ave that chat, but if ye'd rather have a quiet introduction ta our world, I'd keep yer fore'ead covered, alrigh'?"

"Alright, Hagrid. Thanks for the head's up." Harry quickly combed his messy hair over his forehead with his hands.

As they stepped inside, a few people glanced up at their arrival, but most ignored them and carried on with their own conversations. A tall, toothless, balding man was cleaning glasses at the bar.

"Ah, 'ello, Hagrid! The usual, I presume?" asked the barman cheerfully.

"Not today, Tom. I'm 'ere on official 'Ogwarts business. Got a few errands ta run, a new student ta get supplies fer, but I migh' pop in later fer something ta drink." Hagrid puffed out his chest proudly as he mentioned "official Hogwarts business."

Tom the barman nodded, and said, "Well, you know your way around back. Hope to see you back soon!"

Hagrid said his goodbye and led Harry through a door in the back of the pub, which exited into a back alleyway that ended with a brick wall. Hagrid once again brought out his trusty umbrella, tapped one of the bricks on the wall, and then the bricks started shifting, forming an archway for them to pass through. On the other side was the most incredible site Harry had ever seen.

"Welcome, ta Diagon Alley," Hagrid said to Harry, beaming at him. Harry stood, speechless, in the archway, before Hagrid grabbed onto his shoulder and began dragging him along.

Men, women, and children of all ages filled the alley, all dressed in robes, some of them had cloaks on as well, in a whole assortment of colors. There were shops all along the sides of the alley, from _The Magical Menagerie,_ which appeared to be a magical pet store, to _Flourish and Blotts, _a book store. There was also _Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions, Gambol and Japes Joke Shop, Slug &amp; Jiggers Apothecary, _and _Quality Quidditch Supplies._ Harry hadn't the faintest idea of what "_Quidditch"_ was, but he quickly pushed that thought to the side as he saw the shops he was most excited to visit: _Ollivander's Wands. _This was what he had been waiting for since Hagrid had mentioned wands to him- he wanted something to be able to control and direct his magic with more than he already could. He wanted that power in the palm of his hand. But, before he got carried off into daydreaming about the kinds of spells he would be able to cast once he got his hands on one of those wands, another thought struck him.

"Hagrid," Harry asked. "How am I to pay for all of this. You know the Dursley's won't cover it, and I don't have any money to pay for it myself."

"Well there's yer money, righ' there!" Hagrid exclaimed, pointing at the far end of the alley at a tall, grand building made of white stone. It had large pillars in front of it, with a domed roof, and it towered over the other buildings. "Tha's Gringotts, the wizard bank. Yer ma' an' dad 'ad a vault where they kept all their money in. All the wizard families do."

"_All_ wizards do?" Harry repeated.

"Well, not _all,_ perse. They got different branches all over Europe, methinks. Never been ta any of 'em, though. It's the mos' secure place in the world, though, other than maybe 'Ogwarts. It's run by goblins, ye see, so ye'd be mad ter try and rob it."

"_Goblins?" _Harry asked incredulously.

"Yeah, goblins. Tiny but vicious little buggers. There's a lot more than jus' witches 'n' wizards out there, 'Arry. All sorts of magical creatures and bein's live in our world. Goblins have a different kinda magic than us, an' they're kinda a warrior race, an' they deal with metalworkin' an' stuff like tha', so they take care of the makin' an' securin' of magical money. Oh, speakin' o' money, ye should probably learn 'ow our money works. Ye don' need to memorize it or anythin', ye can just write it down later. There are three different type of coins- small bronze coins called Knuts, medium silver coins called Sickles, 'n' large gold coins called Galleons. There's 29 Knuts to a Sickle, and 17 Sickles to a Galleon. Easy enough ter remember once ye get used to it."

Harry made a few mental notes about the money, but it was fairly confusing. He figured he'd get used to it eventually, but he'd definitely have to write it down when he got the chance.

* * *

After a short wait in line, Harry and Hagrid finally made it to the teller.

"I 'ave a letter 'ere from Professor Dumbledore, about the _you-know-what_ in Vault 713. And young Mr. Potter 'ere would like to make a withdrawal," Hagrid told the goblin. The goblin teller sneered down at them.

"And does Mr. Potter have his key?"

"Oh, erm, I got it 'ere somewhere," Hagrid mumbled as he shuffled about, removing random objects from his clothing, until he finally pulled out a small gold key. The goblin looked taken aback.

Harry felt Elisabeth wriggling underneath his sleeve, then heard a slight hissing coming from within his shirt.

_/Don't you find it sssstrange,/ _she hissed, _/that he hassss your family'sss key? Sssshouldn't __**you**_ _be the one who holdssss onto that?/_ Harry subtly pet her through his sleeve to let her know he heard her. _She's right,_ he thought. _Why __**does**_ _he have my family's key? Where did he get it from? Is it something the bank granted to him so I could get into my vault? If that was the case, then surely the bank could have just given it to me… _Harry decided to ask and find out.

"Um, Hagrid, how did you get my key? I know I was raised by Muggles, but shouldn't I have gotten my own key from the bank once we got here?"

"Oh, well, Professor Dumbledore gave it to me. I assumed yer parents left it in his care fer after they died." Hagrid had given Harry's key over to the teller, who was now inspecting it. What Hagrid said didn't sit right with Harry, but since he never met his parents and never met this Dumbledore character, he wasn't sure how his key got into Dumbledore's hands.

"This is, indeed, the key to the Potters' Vault," the teller explained. "However, since no one has entered that Vault in a decade, we have a bit of paperwork for Mr. Potter to fill out." At this point, the teller pressed a call button that summoned another goblin to come to his desk, then he set a "closed" sign down on it. "Mr. Hagrid, please follow Griphook here to take care of your business. I will take Mr. Potter to my supervisor's office so we can get this all sorted out."

"I really think I should be stay with 'im-" Hagrid started, but the goblin cut him off.

"These are private and sensitive matters, Mr. Hagrid. Besides, it will be much faster and easier if we were to split the two of you up."

With a bit of a defeated look, Hagrid sighed. "Alrigh', alrigh'. 'Arry, where yer done, come an' find me outside, down the steps."

Harry agreed and said his farewell, then followed the goblin teller through a door behind the desks, and down a hallway. They stopped at a door, with the name "Ragnok" written on it in gold lettering.

The goblin teller knocked three times, then a gruff voice responded with, "Come in." He opened the door and Harry followed him through into the office of who he assumed to be the supervisor. Another goblin sat behind a desk in a leather armchair, and he appeared to be putting away some paperwork. There were two additional chairs on the opposite side of the desk.

"Ah, Gornuk," Ragnok greeted. "What can I do for you today?"

"Mr. Potter has arrived, sir," Gornuk replied. "Along with his key, brought in by one Rubeus Hagrid."

"Very well, thank you. You may take your leave." Gornuk bowed to Ragnok, then to Harry, then exited through the door. "Please, have a seat, Mr. Potter."

"You can just call me Harry, sir.," Harry replied as he sat down. Ragnok chuckled lightly.

"Well then, you may call me Ragnok, Harry. Your vault has been under quite a lot of interest these past ten years. However, first thing's first, why don't you have your little friend come on out? I'd imagine it gets quite stuffy hiding in your shirt all the time."

Harry's eyes widened, however, the goblin didn't appear to be angry or upset. So, deciding that trying to hide Elisabeth's existence would just make things worse, he called out to her. _/Well, it appearssss assss if we've been caught. Come on out and ssssee what he wantssss./_ Elisabeth slithered out of his collar and draped herself around his neck.

_/He'ssss right, you know? It doessss get quite sssstuffy in there./ _She said while resting her head on him. She stared ahead at Ragnok, waiting to see what happened.

"Well, she is a beauty, Harry. May I ask for her name?" Ragnok asked.

"Elisabeth," answered Harry.

"Elisabeth? A fitting name as any. Do you mind if I ask how you came about finding such a fine, and dangerous, creature?" Harry shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and Ragnok chuckled again. "Relax, Harry. Muggle and Wizard affairs are not of our concern, unless it involves business with us. However she came to be in your possession, it doesn't matter to us."

Harry sighed in relief, as he didn't seem to be in any sort of trouble, and decided to answer him. "I- er, _rescued_ her from a zoo. She's been living with me at my aunt and uncle's in secret for the past month or so." Ragnok laughed at hearing this. "How did you know about Elisabeth, though?"

"Here at Gringotts we have a large security network. They picked up that you were hiding something alive under your shirt. I had them refrain from intercepting you, as I had planned on meeting you anyway, as to avoid causing a scene.

"In any case, I have a word of caution for you. In wizarding culture, Parselmouths are generally seen as Dark, and while it is not considered Dark Magic itself, it could throw you into a negative light and turn some against you. Considering your fame in the magical world, this could give you many issues in the future, especially if it's known that you have embraced your gift. Us goblins have no such prejudice, though. In fact, we are often ostracized and looked down on ourselves by wizards, since we are not human. So you secret is safe with us."

"That's awful," replied Harry. Being the subject of such persecution by his lovely relatives all his life, he could only empathize too well. He was disappointed that the wizarding world had such prejudices as well. "Would you mind telling me about any other prejudices the wizarding world has? I thought maybe I'd escape that kind of bullshit when I was finally able to leave my relatives' house."

Ragnok's eyes narrowed. "It's my understanding that you were raised by Muggles, your aunt on your mother's side's family?" Harry nodded. "And they were against the fact that you were a wizard?"

Harry sighed. "Well, that's one way to put it. It's not really something I enjoy going into…"

Ragnok put up his hand. "Say no more, I think I understand enough. Though, you should know, confidentiality is our specialty. We take our clients' personal information very seriously. In addition to banking, we're also the main source of contracts and lawyers in the magical world. Considering how our race is treated, that confidentiality generally comes at a hefty price, however, our loyalty can be won by simple respect. Both your mother and the Potters have always shown respect to us, and I can see that you seem to share that respect, as well as understand where we're coming from on that end.

"Now, as to the other prejudices of wizards, taken everything that isn't completely a wizard, and that what the worst of them see as lower than themselves. Magical creatures, even ones with intelligence such as my own race, Muggles, werewolves- who are wizards and witches all but three nights each month, if it's not a wizard, it's not worth their time. Some of the worst offenders are even against other wizards. Anyone who is not a 'Pureblood,' or a wizard who can trace back their magical ancestry through seven generations, is considered lower than them. There are also 'Half-bloods,' who have both wizarding and muggle ancestry in those seven generations, and 'Muggle-borns,' or 'Mudbloods,' as the worst of them say, are wizards who are the first generation of magic users in their family, who have only Muggle ancestry in those seven generations. Though, if you go back far enough you will always find some sort of magical ancestry in any wizard's family tree. Generally it's a Squib- or someone born into a magical family who cannot perform magic, who married a muggle and the magical gene was hidden for several generations."

Harry nodded in acknowledgement. It was a lot to take in. "That sounds horrible. How many wizards feel this way?"

"Oh, it's a minority for the more extreme ones. The majority at the very least look down on muggles, though they're not against them or want to hurt them or anything. Unfortunately, much of the Ministry of Magic is full of Pureblood bigots. It may be a minority, but it's a loud and powerful minority.

"Now, while I can go on for hours about the folly of man, and I wouldn't mind telling you more about wizarding culture, I think we should get down to business. I would recommend buying a book or two on magical culture when you get your school books. You can share it with any muggle-born students you befriend as well."

"Thank you. I think I'll just do that," Harry replied.

"Considering your lack of knowledge of the wizarding world, as well as your previous living conditions, I must ask you: what do you know about your family?"

"Not much, really. I only learned today about my parents being wizards. I don't really know anymore than that, other than my mum was a muggle-born and they were both killed the night I got my scar."

"I see. Yes, your mother was a muggle-born, and your father was known as a pure-blood, although the Potters have never been a bigoted family. In fact, they tried to stay as far away from the Dark as they could, choosing to even ignore their Parseltongue abilities. It's an inherited trait, and while it sometimes skips generations, all the Potters who were given this gift ignored to the point where they would have to try their hardest to actually understand a snake if they wanted to. You, on the other hand, have embraced your gift, and therefore it comes easily and naturally to you. Have you heard of Parselmagic, Harry?"

"Yes, Elisabeth told me what little she knew about it, and I've been able to do a few things with it."

Ragnok smiled. "You must be quite intelligent and/or powerful to be able to focus your magic at such a young age without a wand. Your family vault has some books in it that go into more detail about Parseltongue and -magic, as well as your family history, if you would like to read them. The Parseltongue books have been left untouched for ages, but I can see them being quite useful to you.

"Now, about why I brought you to me. Before your parents died, they made a will. There is a copy of it in your vault, but one section of it asked for the vault to be locked with a blood seal. While blood magic is outlawed in the wizarding world, the goblins still perform it, and we use it in your contracts. Your parents seem to have suspected that someone would try and take advantage of your wealth while you were growing up, and it appears that they were right. For the first few years after their deaths, several different people showed up with your key, attempting to enter your vault. Now, normally this isn't an issue, since the enchantments on each vault prevent anything from being taken without the owner's permission. So, anyone with a key can usually open someone's vault, however they cannot take any money that the owner does not give them permission to take. In such a case as your's, where your parents were unable to care for you, your new guardians were to be put in charge of the vault. Your parents had listed their friend, Sirius Black, as your godfather and guardian in the event that they died. They listed a few other names in the event that he was unable to take you in, none of which were your mother's sister's family. If I recall correctly, the Wizengamot- think of it as the wizarding version of Parliament- voted you to go to your only surviving blood-relatives. Why? I do not know. However, considering the fact that it appears that Albus Dumbledore was in possession of your key, and that he is also Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, I suspect he has something to do with it. In any case, your finances have been secure, and no one who has tried has been able to get passed the blood shield.""

Harry was visibly shaken. He was supposed to go to one of his parents' friends? Then this Dumbledore character took it upon himself to send him to his horrible relatives and tried to steal his inheritance? The more he heard about this man, the less he liked him. "Thank you for telling me all this, Ragnok. I didn't know… Is there any way I could escape the Dursleys and live with one of my parents' chosen guardians?" Harry asked.

Ragnok shook his head. "Unfortunately not. Unless they were willing to give you up. But, that would involve them interacting with the magical world to take care of everything. It might be worth a shot, but it would be up to them, though. Actually, there is one other way. Your godfather would have more authority than your aunt to claim you. He's currently imprisoned, though, so there won't be any luck convincing the Wizengamot of that option."

"He's imprisoned? What for?"

Ragnok sighed and rubbed his temples. "When you entered here, I expected to only have to explain to you the circumstances of your vault. I never imagined you would be so ignorant of your heritage or of the wizarding world. That's not your fault, of course, and don't take it as an insult. I just didn't expect to need to explain so much. I think that your parents' friends would be the better choice to explain this all to you, and, if you would like, I can try and give you the contact information to some of them and mail them to you. However, I will try to answer any questions you have. As I said before, the Potters have always shown goblins respect, and I had actually considered some of your ancestors my friends, which is extremely rare between goblins and wizards. So I feel as if it is my duty to help you, especially considering the circumstances.

"Your godfather, Sirius Black, was accused of betraying your parents to Voldemort. If I remember correctly, he was accused of being their Secret Keeper and telling Voldemort where they were hiding. There is a spell, called the Fidelius Charm, which allows a person to contain a secret within their very soul, and only that person- the 'Secret Keeper'- can give that information to another. So your parents' location became the secret that he would have hidden away, and he gave that secret to Voldemort. He was also accused of killing another one of your parents' friends, Peter Pettigrew, along with twelve muggled, but those were lesser charges, as Pettigrew was a half-blood and the muggles were, well, muggles. Your mother was a muggle-born, but once it was revealed that Voldemort was targeting your family and that you defeated him that night, she was considered much more valuable. It also helped that James was a pure-blood from a respected family.

Now, I honestly don't know if any of this is true, as I was not involved in your parents' hiding and Black was never actually given a trial and proven guilty, he was simply thrown into prison based on the accusations, which was unfortunately common during wartime. But, it is what happened. If he happened to be found innocent and was freed, then he would be free to take you away from your relatives."

Harry pondered at this. _Well, a mass murdering traitor isn't exactly what I wanted in a guardian, but, honestly, it probably wouldn't be any worse than living with the Dursleys._ He chuckled to himself at this thought. It was horrible, but probably wasn't too far from the truth. _At least he'd probably kill me quickly, rather than torment me daily. _Then another thought came to him as he realized just what the goblin had said. "Hey, wait a minute, did you just say that I _defeated_ Voldemort?"

"Yes, I did. Did Hagrid tell you of your fame in this world?" Harry nodded. "Well, that's why you're famous. That night, on Halloween in 1981, Voldemort came to your home. No one knows what truly happened that night, but what we do know is that after he showed up, your parents died, and you were left with a cut on your head. He was gone, and hasn't been seen since. The roof of your home was caved in, and your house was set ablaze. That cut that formed your scar was a sign of a dark curse, and most theories state that he tried to kill you, but it backfired on him, destroying him. Most have accepted he's dead, some think he's still out there, trying to regain his power. But, that's why you're famous. You defeated the Dark Lord when you were only one year old."

Harry leaned back in his chair, trying to take it all in. It was so much. First, he learned that he was a wizard, that his parents were also wizards and that they were murdered, then that he was famous, and now that he was famous for destroying a Dark Lord, the same one who killed his parents.

Elisabeth slid her head closer to him. _/Don't be upssset, Harry. Pleassse. Be sssstrong, I am here for you. It may be overwhelming, but you have gone through sssso much worssse in your life. You can handle thissss. I believe in you./_ Harry looked at her and nodded, then gently stroked her.

_/Thank you, Elisssabeth. You're my bessst friend, you know that? With you, I can handle almossst anything, I think./_

Ragnok spoke up, after a few minutes of letting them talk. "I know it will take a while to sink in. I would suggest getting a hooded cloak while you get your school robes, to make yourself less identifiable until you arrive at Hogwarts, so that crowds don't mob you wherever you go. Unless, of course, you were planning on going back into the muggle world?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I would like nothing more than to never step foot back into that place, unless it was to give them as much pain as they've given me. Even if I have to go back eventually, I'd rather steer clear of them as much as I can."

Ragnok nodded and grinned wickedly. "Vengeance is something we goblins can understand only too well. We're actually quite the warriors and weapon-smiths when we're not in peacetime."

Harry chuckled a bit. "Yeah, Hagrid had mentioned that before we came in here."

"Ah, yes, well he does seem to have a large array of knowledge of various magical creatures and beings, though I highly doubt he has any more than a basic understanding of our culture. One misconception is that goblins believe everything we make we own. That's mostly true, but not entirely. When we create something, whether it is a weapon or something like a piece of jewelry or a decoration, if we don't keep it for ourselves we rent it to wizards or gift it to each other. We only rent it to wizards because we have much longer lifespans than them, and we would have the opportunity to then re-rent it or keep it for ourselves. We make it clear that it will only be rented to the wizard, however because the magical government is run by wizards whose customs are different than our's, the vast majority of wizards consider 'renting' it the same as 'buying' it, and we can't do much about it without starting up another goblin rebellion. However, there are a some exceptions to this. This custom only applies to our metalworks, so anything else can be bought and sold permanently to wizards. Since metalsmithing is a specialty of goblin magic, our tradition and pride states that it should eventually remain in goblin hands. This is not the case, however, if we choose to gift a wizard or witch with a creation of goblin-metal. Those gifts can be passed down through the generations of that wizard's family, as they have been freely given and are now considered 'owned' by that wizard. It's a very rare occurrence. There are some goblins, a small few, who believe that even these gifts should be taken back by the goblins after their wizarding owners died. Griphook, the goblin who took care of Hagrid's business, is one of those. The last time the goblins gave such a gift to any wizard or witch was with the four Founders of Hogwarts, one thousand years ago. Godric Gryffindor was given a sword, Salazar Slytherin was given a locket, Helga Hufflepuff was given a cup, and Rowena Ravenclaw was given a diadem. That was the last time… until today."

Harry's eyes widened as Ragnok reached into a drawer of his desk and pulled out a box. It was black, with silver trimming and emeralds encrusted into the sides. He handed it to Harry, who opened it, and inside was a silver dagger, with various symbols inscripted on the blade that he did not recognize. It had a handle wrap of simple black leather, and the hilt looked like a snake with emeralds set in its eyes. It sat with a kind of deadly beauty on a bed of crimson velvet.

He looked back up at Ragnok and spoke only two words: "Why me?"

Ragnok smiled at him. "_That_ is why, Harry. I wasn't planning on giving this to you today, in fact I wasn't really planning on _ever_ giving it to you. However, after our conversation, I feel as though you not only deserve it, you need it.

"Let me explain why I feel you need it, first. First, there's obviously someone out there who, at the very least, seems to be conspiring against you, even if only for your wealth. It could very well be that your wealth is just the tip of the iceberg. Second, even without this person, you still have many enemies out there. Countless supporters of Voldemort were able to get out of prison for various reasons, through a combination of bribery and lies. They could still pose a danger to you, and you will need every advantage you can get. Thirdly, Voldemort himself could still be out there. As I said before, they never found a body, and I believe that it's better to use caution. Better safe than sorry, as the saying goes. Again, you will need every advantage you can get if he were to return and come after you.

"Now, as for why I believe you deserve it. First, you're humble, and respectful towards our species. While this is a trait most of the Potters have shown, granted some of them could have been a bit more humble, you also understand how it feels to be discriminated against, and that is something no Potter before you has shown. Second, you've shown that you're courageous and loyal. You have dealt with pain your whole life, and even though embracing your gift will cause you some trouble and hate in the future, you haven't even considered giving it up. Whether that's out of loyalty to your friend Elisabeth, you simply don't care what others think, or a combination of both, it shows where your priorities lie. Third, you interest me, Harry Potter. Not just because of the baby you were, or the child you are now, but the man you will grow up to be. I would like to have you on my side as an ally in the future, and it would most likely be beneficial to you to have the goblins on your side as well. You're a very interesting character, Mr. Potter, and I can't help but feel in my gut that you having this in your possession will be beneficial to the both of us."

"I… I don't know what to say. Thank you, it's incredible, especially knowing what an honor it is. I certainly hope that I ever need to use it, but I will always keep it with me."

"Good, good. I understand why you're stunned, and there's no need to thank me just yet. It's a tool and a weapon, so thank me after you get some use out of it, or better yet, when it saves your life. Now, let me tell you some of the details. The dagger is made out of a goblin steel and silver alloy, and the magic and runes put into it during its creation makes it unique, even amongst other goblin-made daggers. The blade is seven inches long, while the handle is six, so the total length is thirteen inches. It will never dull or rust or break, and goblin metals will only take in what makes it stronger. This means that anything like dirt or blood will wipe right off, unless the blood has certain beneficial properties, while anything beneficial will be added to the blade. For example, if you were to coat your blade with Elisabeth's venom, then it will then gain her venom's properties, and whenever it cuts someone, they will have a similar reaction to when Elisabeth bites someone.

"That, however, is common in goblin metals. What is unique about your's, however, is its Parseltongue abilities. This blade was initially made for the Potters, as they have been at the least acquaintances with us and at most friends and allies, which is why it has this additional aspect to it. However, until you came along, I didn't find any of them worthy enough to have it. It will provide a focus for you to have greater control over your Parselmagic, almost like a wand. Wands all have something called 'The Trace' placed on them, which only breaks after the wizard it bonds with turns seventeen, the age of legal adulthood in the wizarding world. What it does is it senses magic around the wand and alerts the Ministry if an underaged wizard is performing magic in a restricted area, meaning any place other than Hogwarts, or somewhere populated with magical beings, such as Diagon Alley or a wizarding family's house. The Trace was never designed to detect Parselmagic, however, but it you were to use your wand it would still have the possibility of tracking you. This dagger, however, was designed with Parselmagic in mind, and will most likely work better with that branch of magic than your regular wand will. The leather wrapping is made of dragon hide, from a Hungarian Horntail, arguably the most dangerous dragon in existence. While the hide cannot protect the dagger any more than it already is, its properties have been integrated into the blade as a magical focus for your Parselmagic abilities. There are some other enchantments on the blade as well. There are poison and potion detecting charms, in case you feel the need to check your food or drink in case someone is trying to slip you something, and it cannot be summoned from your person."

"This is absolutely incredible," was Harry's response. "I've never seen or heard of anything like it." He tentatively reached into the box and grabbed the dagger by the handle. It was lightweight, and felt like an extension of his arm. He felt power flowing through him as he held it, and it made him smile. Elisabeth perked up to look at it, and hissed how impressed she was with the gift. "I promise I will always treasure it, and that I will try to find some way to show my gratitude, one day. I hope to see our future partnership and friendship flourish in the future."

Ragnok smiled, showing off his sharp teeth. "That is what I like to hear, Harry Potter. I, too, hope that we have a long and bountiful relationship. Now, I think it's about time I showed you your vault."

* * *

A/N: I used inches as a unit of measurement because JKR uses it for wands. I originally was going to use cm, but really the numbers worked better in inches (seven and thirteen, in particular), and it's all around easier for me, being an American.

A/N 2: I originally wasn't going to have this friendship/partnership between Harry and Ragnok, however I was thinking about it and added in a few more ideas than I originally planned for this story, and Harry having a dagger and being allies with the goblins will certainly help to push it along. It might seem strange that Ragnok just happened to have his gift ready, but, like I said, it was originally meant for the first Potter who was worthy, and after their lengthy conversation and Ragnok making (mostly correct) assumptions about Harry's life and seeing his character, he decided to trust his instincts and give it to Harry.

A/N 3: I despise writing Hagrid's dialogue. Have I mentioned that? Probably not, but seriously, it's awful. Hagrid probably won't be getting much screentime for a while for this reason alone, plus I don't really need him anymore for a while, especially after Harry had so much explained to him by Ragnok. They'll still have their chat, but it won't be quite as long or detailed as this one was. Next chapter: Harry gets to go shopping.


End file.
